Jungle Cruise Re-Imagining

doctornick

Well-Known Member
He’s got a machete and half a dozen severed heads

As I said before in this thread - again just IMHO - I can understand the concerns with the headhunter/shrunken heads. Personally, I find them just to be silly and meant as a joke as opposed to a social commentary on non whites and aren't a problem but YMMV. That said, my point would be that you can swap out the shrunken heads to some other "good" and some up with a good joke/pun about it and I think the figure itself would otherwise be good. The MK figure isn't intrinsically racist such that it needs to be removed entirely.

To also be clear, I don't really care that much. If they put in a different figure entirely, that's fine. I don't think Jungle Cruise is dependent on that figure and that joke. I just don't agree that the figure itself is de facto racist.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
As I said before in this thread - again just IMHO - I can understand the concerns with the headhunter/shrunken heads. Personally, I find them just to be silly and meant as a joke as opposed to a social commentary on non whites and aren't a problem but YMMV. That said, my point would be that you can swap out the shrunken heads to some other "good" and some up with a good joke/pun about it and I think the figure itself would otherwise be good. The MK figure isn't intrinsically racist such that it needs to be removed entirely.

To also be clear, I don't really care that much. If they put in a different figure entirely, that's fine. I don't think Jungle Cruise is dependent on that figure and that joke. I just don't agree that the figure itself is de facto racist.
What, in your opinion, would make the character racist? Just trying to understand your perspective. If MK's Trader Sam isn't racist as it is, is there anything that might push it into that category for you?
 

SirLink

Well-Known Member
As a Brit myself, you seem to be getting self-deprecating jokes mixed up with mild racism. Wildly different types of remarks, and the latter may well hurt and offend family members.

No I'm not. see Stephen Fry quote on people being offended. You should be ashamed with yourself. But its not like Splash redo or this will actually get built lol.
 

LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
As a Brit we are built with self-deprecation humor in from day one, if someone I loved said they were hurt by a remark. I would know they aren't British for a start.
Are you sure you’re British? You spelt “humour” without a U. ;)

On a more serious note, I too am British and do not agree with you. Self-deprecation is a very different matter from the imagery and themes under discussion here.
 
Last edited:

LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
I believe that was an older version of Trader Sam. IIRC he was changed from a figure that looked more like Trader Sam at DL into the more cartoony figure that is there today a number of years after MK opened.
I believe you’re mistaken. The concept art for MK’s Sam shows a figure very much like what we have today:

jctradersam.jpg


Those who know their park history better than I can correct me if I’m wrong.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Come on. It's an African American lady wearing pearls. If you're thinking of the bandana version that was changed out years ago. Frankly, I don't get it. No, seriously. Remove Aunt Jemimah but keep the white Quaker guy (parent company). Removing African American representation from products doesn't sound like progress to me.

1648.jpg
 

Raineman

Well-Known Member
So, let’s take the politics/social issues completely out of this for a minute, and look at the physical changes they are planning. We all know Disney’s track record when it comes to making changes to classic attractions-adding the movie characters to POTC, the “Under New Management” Tiki Room, the JII makeover where Dreamfinder was mothballed. Can we really trust that the attraction will be better?
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
So, let’s take the politics/social issues completely out of this for a minute, and look at the physical changes they are planning. We all know Disney’s track record when it comes to making changes to classic attractions-adding the movie characters to POTC, the “Under New Management” Tiki Room, the JII makeover where Dreamfinder was mothballed. Can we really trust that the attraction will be better?

I'd refer back to what I said above. I think there are very few people that love the attraction because of the not even remotely impressive show scenes; everyone who really enjoys it seems to mainly love the skippers and the puns.

Changing a few of the scenes shouldn't affect that whatsoever. I don't think they can really make the attraction worse by changing the show scenes based on what currently exists.
 

Buck Wheelie

Well-Known Member
If Disney feels they need to change JC and Splash Mtn to please people they why should they stop there? Aren't short people offended by the Seven Dwarf's Mine Ride? We are from the west and are offended by BTMRR. My Great Great Grandfather was a pirate so I'm offended by POTC. We are poor and my daughter is overweight and not that attractive so we're deeply offended by Cinderella and the Castle.

This is all sarcasm - of course. The point I'm trying to make is there is no end to this. Is the answer to just have a ride with a track and cars but no theme? We need to stop caving to these people that want to end everything just because someone listens to them. If if the jokes are dumb they make people laugh. Laughter is always the best medicine especially for those people who can laugh at themselves.
 

SirLink

Well-Known Member
Are you sure you’re British? You spelt “humour” without a U.

On a more serious note, I too am British and do not agree with you. Self-deprecation is a very different matter from the imagery and themes under discussion here.
I'm typing from a MacBook so every time I spell "humour" it highlights it with the spellcheck feature lol.

Firstly in regards to this ride I never said this was self-depracating. The user asked if I said a joke to a loved one that would hurt them, that is when I brought up the self-depracating humour. But I take it you have never heard a Frankie Boyle joke then lol

Look its not like this or Splash re-do is getting built.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
f the argument is that it's a Walt Disney original, well, it's not what Walt really wanted anyways. He wanted to build something like the Kiliminjaro Safari with real animals -- they ended up not using live animals for several reasons, but the ride was still originally narrated like a nature documentary.
This is part of the problem with the natives that has not really been addressed. The Jungle Cruise is considered a zoo-type experience first played seriously and then reworked to be farcical. Including native people in such a framework extends the tradition of human zoos where “exotic” peoples were exhibited in zoos alongside the animals.
 
Last edited:

SirLink

Well-Known Member
If Disney feels they need to change JC and Splash Mtn to please people they why should they stop there? Aren't short people offended by the Seven Dwarf's Mine Ride? We are from the west and are offended by BTMRR. My Great Great Grandfather was a pirate so I'm offended by POTC. We are poor and my daughter is overweight and not that attractive so we're deeply offended by Cinderella and the Castle.

This is all sarcasm - of course. The point I'm trying to make is there is no end to this. Is the answer to just have a ride with a track and cars but no theme? We need to stop caving to these people that want to end everything just because someone listens to them. If if the jokes are dumb they make people laugh. Laughter is always the best medicine especially for those people who can laugh at themselves.
It is a slippery slope now imagine they had done this having built Disney's America in some alternate reality. Historical events wouldn't match up.
 

Buck Wheelie

Well-Known Member
It is a slippery slope now imagine they had done this having built Disney's America in some alternate reality. Historical events wouldn't match up.
Part of the problem is that some people want to erase history. That is the wrong thing to do because people can even learn from the bad things in history. Its not good if we act like certain things or events never happened. Its kind of like the participation trophy mentality where every get a reward and nothing bad ever happens.
 

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
Part of the problem is that some people want to erase history. That is the wrong thing to do because people can even learn from the bad things in history. Its not good if we act like certain things or events never happened. Its kind of like the participation trophy mentality where every get a reward and nothing bad ever happens.
I have no interest in erasing history, and I don't think that's a goal for most people. I agree that we need to learn from history. However, I do think people want to correct history to be more accurate from more perspectives. Our shared and divergent histories as humans have not been accurately recorded or taught.
 

Sharon&Susan

Well-Known Member
I believe that was an older version of Trader Sam. IIRC he was changed from a figure that looked more like Trader Sam at DL into the more cartoony figure that is there today a number of years after MK opened.
Footage from 1979 of Trader Sam with the same design that he does today, long before the Disney company was really worried about these sort of things:
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
If any of you want to hear what that vibe was like, check out the other side of the Enchanted Tiki Room LP. Starts at 17:15.



Even that was a later, jokier version, wasn't it? I think the original narration only ran for 6 or 7 years before they updated it, and I believe that record was released after the original narration was removed. I'm not positive about that, though, and this is still more serious than what exists today.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom